Sonically actuated valve



Feb. 22, 1955 A. G. BOBINE, JR 2,702,559

" soNIcALLY ACTUATED VALVE Filed'Feb. 27, 1951 2 sheets-sheet 1 IN V EN TOR.

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A. G. BOBINE, JR

SONICALLY ACTUATED VALVE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 27, 1951 IN V EN TOR.

76 626507 600m/5 JP.

rroP/VEK part of my original application entitled Method and Ap- United States Patent O This invention relates generally to valves and valve\1 operating devices, and it is a general object of the inventionto provide a valve actuated by sonic driving means.

The present 'application'is a continuation-in-part of -my copending applications entitled Deep Well Pump, rial No. 13,422, lled March 6, 1948, no w Patent No. A

2,553,541, of May 22, 1951 and DeepWell Pump Apparatus, Serial No. 13,695, tiled March 8, 1948, now Patent No.' 2,553,542, of May'22, 1951, which applications were copending withv and were divisions of my application entitled Method and Apparatus for Pumping, Serial No. 761,456, led July 17, 1947, now Patent No. 2,444,-v 912 of July 13, 1948, and which application Serial No. 761,456 was copending with-'and was a'continuation-inparatus for Pumping, Serial No. 521,576, tiled February 8, 1944, and abandoned after filing of Serial No. 761,456.

In my said prior applications there was disclosed, but not v specifically claimed, a valve actuated by sound waves (successive elastic deformation waves of compression and tension) in a solid elastic column. The'broad subject 35 matter of the present application is a valve operated by sound waves in a solid elastic sound wave transmitting member such as an elastic rod, tubing, bar, etc.

In said prior applications, I disclosed a type of deep well pump operated by periodic elastic deformation waves 40 of tension and compression in an elastic column extending from'the ground surface to the bottom of the well, this column being in some cases the steel pump-tubing, and i'n others a string of steel sucker rods. The tension and compression waves are generated in said column by a sonic vibration generator at the ground surface. The periodic deformation waves are generated at sulicient frequency to provide longitudinal waves irf the column having a quarter wave length which is no longer .than substantially the length of the column. Usually, for deep wells, the column length is many times the quarter wave length of the wave generated in the column. Points along the column are set into vertical oscillation as a result of the longitudinal elastic deformation movement of the column during passage of the waves of compression and tension. Preferably, though not necessarily, the waves are generated at a longitudinal resonant frequency of the column, so that there is produced along the column a standing wave characterized by alternate regions of maximum and minimum oscillatory movement. A uid impelling and check valve means is mounted in the pump tubing, and-the elastic column is connected to the tubing, so that the deformation waves transmitted down the column result in oscillatory movement of the fluidv impelling means. In perhaps the simplest case, the pump 65 tubing itself serves the purpose of the elastic column transmitting the elastic deformation waves down the Well hole, and the uid impelling and check valve means consists simply of a ring seat mounted inside the pump tubing and a ball valve cooperating with said seat. This ball valve and seat, thus oscillated in response to the t elastic waves vof compression and tension (sound waves) pumps successive increments of well luid upwardly in the pump tubing in step with its sonically driven vertical oscillation, all as described in my aforementioned prior applications.

lt will be understood that the alternating waves of compression and tension in the elastic column are nothing more nor less than sound waves, sound waves being properly understood to be elastic waves of tension and 80 compression travelling at the speed of sound in an elastic L 2,102,559 Patented Feb. 22, 1955 icemedium. By generating these waves at av Afrequency of,-

for eltample, 20 cycles per second, and with suicient intensity to give a deformation stroke of the order of say l", very substantial accelerations and decelerations are obtained at the oscillating valve members-much higher than are obtainable with ordinary reciprocating mechanisms such as employed in conventional oil well pumping. In my pumps I am easily able, for example,

to obtain accelerations several times the acceleration of' gravity, and in other applications of my invention, I

. produce valve operating movements having accelerations a great many times that of gravity. It will .become apparent hereinafter that these higher than normal acceleratlons of my valve devices are highly advantageous in my deep well pumps, and in other valve applications.

` This sonically operated valve featurehas been discovleirecldto be of special value in handling gassy or frothy qui s. 1

The invention may be most readily understood when taken in connection with certain illustrative embodiments thereof, and for this purpose reference is had to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a partly elevational and partly longitudinal sectional view -of a pump 'embodying one form of valve and valve actuating means in accordance with the mventton;

. Figures 2, 3 and 4'are longitudinal sectional views of alternative forms of valve in accordance with the invention, shown installed in a pump tubing;

Figure 5 is a partly elevational and partly longitudinal sectional view of another pump employing a valve and valve actuating means in accordance with the invention;

and v Figure 6 is a longitudinal sectional view of a fuel injector for an internal combustion engine, showing a further application of the valve and valve actuatingmeans of my invention.

In Figure 1 an oil well bore is indicated by the letter W, and a well casing within said bore by numeral 10, the lower endportion of the casing adjacent the productive formation being understood to be perforated in the usual manner. The pump tubing 11, understood to be composed of elastic material, as steel, is suspended in well boreW from platform 12, its lower end reaching downwardly to the region of the liquid L-to be pumped from the well bore. Platform 12 is resiliently mounted on vertical coil springs 13 standing on ground-supported platform 14,-springs 13 being guided vby vertical rods 15 set into platform 14 and slidable in platform 12.

Mounted on platform 12 or on the upper end of tubing 11 extending thereabove, is a vibration generator or vibrator G comprising a housing 16 containing a device for vibrating the platform 12 and the upper end of the tubing 11, thereby exerting a vertical oscillating force upon the upper end of the tubing 11. The means for generating vibrations contained within housing 16 may be of any type, but that here shown is of a simple type having meshing oppositely'rotating spur gears 17 carrying v in the pipe, I may refer to this vibrator as a sonic wave generator.

The oscillating force applied to the upper end of the elastic tubing 11 by the sonic wave generator launches alternating deformation waves of tension and compression downthe tubing, traveling in the tubing with the speed of sound. It must be understood that the tubing is not vertically reciprocated in a ,bodily manner. On the contrary, the vertically oscillating force applied to the upper end of the tubing by the-sonic wave generator is of suflcientlyI high frequency (for instance, although without implying any limitation on the invention, 20 cycles per second for a 4,000 foot tubing) as to make that type of operation impossible. Instead, longitudinal elastic deformation waves of compression and tension, of wave length actually shorter than the length of the tubing, travel down the tubing, causing each transverse section thereof to oscillate vertically with each passage of a wave. For purposes of maximum eiciency, it is desirable that the frequency of the sound wave generator and the length of the tubing should be so related that the tubing string is longitudinally resonated. wli-:h is accomplished by drivingthe sound wave generator at a resonant frequency of the tubing string. Such operation establishes a standing wave along the tubing, with one or more velocity nodes at tubing sections a half-wave length apart. At these tubing sections, the amplitude of vertical oscillation is substantially zero. At points half-way between these velocity nodes there will appear regions of maximum amplitude of vertical oscillation (velocity antinodes). In theory, and with shallow wells actually, the pump tubing can be as short as a quarter-wave length, the

lower end being the location of a velocity anti-node.

A quarter-wave length tubing is substantially the minimum length in accordance with the invention, since as a quarter-wave length of the generated wave 1s made longer than the tubing, the amplitude of elastic vibration falls off, and when a quarter-wave length becomes materially longer than the tubing, elastic vibration has become negligible and operation in .accordance with the invention has vanished. For the purpose of the embodiment of Figure l, it is desirable to have the check valve at a point of substantial or maximum oscillation, and hence it ,is desirable, though not essential, to establish a velocity anti-node region near or at said juncture.

The tubing 11 thus undergoes vertical oscillation in amounts which may differ from section to section along its length. If thevalve 15 is located at a velocity antinode, the amplitude for this vertical oscillation will be maximized at the location of the-check valve. During each oscillation of the check valve 15, a small increment of well Huid travels upwardly in the pump tubing past check valve 15, to be elevated in the pump tubing and eventually discharged via a delivery pipe 22.

Considering now the check valve 15 in more particular, it comprises typically a valve seat ring 23 rigidly secured within the pump tubing, and having passageway 24 whose top end forms a seat for a check valve ball 25. The seat also is here shown to carry a cage for the valve ball 25. Functionally considered, this assembly of seat ring 23 and valve ball 25 serves as a uid impelling and check valve means operated by the described vertical oscillation of the portion of the pump tubing to which the ring 23 is secured. The well fluid may stand in the casing to the level L. On each downstroke of the ring 23, occurring because of the substantial forces developed within the sonically driven oscillating tubing 11, with an acceleration typically several times that of gravity, a small increment of well uid displaced by said ring ows upwardly through passageway 24 and past the unseated valve ball 25 to the liquid column above. It will be understood that the valve ball 25 will normally descend at a slower rate under the acceleration of gravity than will the valve seat ring 23 driven in response to the sonic elastic deformation cycle of the pump tubing, so that the passage 24 is opened on the downstroke of the ring 23. Also, the well fluid forced upwardly by being displaced by the ring 23 exerts an upward ramming pressure against the valve ball tending further to separate it from its seat. Further, the downstroke of the ring 23, occurring with an acceleration several times that of gravity, tends to leave a substantial void in the liquid column above, which has the effect of causing well tluid to be sucked upwardly through the passage 24. On the succeeding Iupstroke of the valve seat ring 23, the valve ball 25 seats at the upper end of passage 24, and the entire liquid column above is elevated by the uid impelling action of the upper area of the ring 23 together with the vertically projected area of the seat covered by the ball 25. Thus. on each downstroke, the downwardly moving seat ring 23 pumps, by displacement, an increment of well tluid into the tubing above the valve ball 25, and on each upstroke, the valve closes and the liquid column above the seat ring 23 is elevated. Actually, the ball 25 may seat on the ring 23 at the lower end of the stroke of the latter, or at some point within the range of the upstroke of the ring 23. Maximum pumping is found to occur with the valve seating between mid-stroke and the lowermost limit of the stroke of the ring 23, but

pumping is eEected so long as the ball seats before thev an elastic member undergoing valternate longitudinal con tractive and expansive movements as a result of sonic waves of compression and tension passing therethrough, so as to gain the benefits of the high accelerations at which such elastic deformation movements may easily be-made to occur. It is a great advantage in my pumping system that the valve parts also be actuated by the sonic waves in the elastic wave transmitting member, since it is also quite desirable that the valve members be positively driven, at the desired opening and closing frequency, with relative movements occurring with accelerations exceeding that of gravity. Reference to certain embodiments of my broad pumping system as disclosed in my Patent No. 2,444,912, for. instance those shown in Figures 10, 11 and 30, will reveal that the broad pumping system covered in said patent is directed essentially to a fluid displacing member which is sonically actuated, but is not restricted to use `of valve devices which are sonically actuated. Sonic actuation of the valve members, however, is of great advantage in that4 the valve opening and closing movements may then be readily made to occur with substantially increased accelerations. For example, and with further reference to the embodiment of my invention shown in Figure 1 of the present application, the valve ball 25 descending with the acceleration of gravity may not reach the valve seat ring 23 at the lower limit of the stroke of the latter, and it is of course evident that reverse ow of the liquid column may occur past the valve 15 after valve seat ring 23 starts its upward stroke and before seating of the valve 25 against the ring 23 takes place. By having the valve seat ring 23 move upwardly through sonic actuation, however, its acceleration in the upward direction is very great, and the interval of time between the instant that the ring 23 starts its upward movement and the time that seating-takes place may thereby be materially reduced. Sonic actuation of the valve, by which term I mean to denote movement of the valve in response to sonically driven deformation movements `of the pump tubing 11, is thus a substantial advantage in that it increases the amount of ud pumped per cycle.

In the foregoing description, it has been assumed that the valve ball 25 will descend by gravity. However, if the valve cage is designed with a sutiiciently small clearance space between it and the valve seat ring 23, the valve ball will be engaged by cage on the downstroke and will be thrown and accelerated thereby in the downward direction. Accordingly, in this form of the invention, not only is the valve seat ring 23 moved in both directions under sonic actuation, but the. valve ball 25 is also moved on its downstroke by sonic actuation. It will be appreciated that to secure this additional effect, the clearance space between the seat ring 23 and the cage must be sufficiently small relative to the elastic -ball 25 on the downstroke.

It may now be seen that the present invention is .characterized by provision of two valve parts, which may be referred to as the valve element and the valve seat, with the provision of sonically actuated vibratory means for moving at least one of said parts relative to the other of the parts to effect opening and closing movements thereof. Clearly, any opposing biasing forces, such as the force of gravity operating on a valve ball, or a closing spring, or the like, must be less than the forces generated by the sonic action, since otherwise the valve element would remain seated on the valve seat. It will also be evident that the valve element must have suicient weight to move properly in the surrounding fluids. instance, too light a valve ball in the pump of Figure l will result in the ball failing to move downwardly, so as to close with its seat. On the other hand, by use of a biasing spring, such as the spring 34 in Figure 2, a relatively light valve element may be employed, for instance, a relatively light disk-like movable valve member 35 urged yieldingly into engagement with its seat member 36 by a spring 34. As shown in Figure 2, the ring seat For is in this instance formed by means of .an annular upwardly facing shoulder 36 inside the tubing member v37, and the spring is compressed between this seat and any suitable support at the tubing, such for instance as spider 39 inserted in the tube coupling.

As stated previously, the biasing force ori 4 the valve, whether owing to its own weight, or to a spring such as the spring 34, must not be so great relative to the sonically generated reciprocating forces acting on the valve device that the valve will remain seated throughout its stro'ke. In this connection, it is particularly important in pumping oil wells containing substantial quantities of gas that the biasing forces exerted on the valve be not too great. For instance, if the spring is too great in strength, a gas b ody reaching the location of the valve may establish conditions under which the valve will not be unseated on the downstroke, and pumping will therefore cease. This may result, first, because in the presence of gas, the valve element 35 will descend more readily through the surrounding fluids than in the presence of petroleum liquids alone, and second, because the ramming pressures developed by reason of Huid displacement by the descending seat ring will be substantially diminished in the presence of gas. But by having the biasing force sutiiciently light, the rapid acceleration of the pump tubing and v alve seat in the downward direction will result in suflcient upward ramming force against the valve to cause it to unseat, so that the gas body can move upwardly into'the production column. Or, as later described, a reverse biasing spring can be used. Clearly, in practice, the weight of the valve element, or the strength of the valve biasing spring, mustV be so chosen as to permit the type of pumping action described hereinabove, and this is simply a matter of adjustment which is readily accomplished in practice. Considering again the ball type of valve, without a biasing spring, and recalling the fact that the mass of a ball varies with the cube of its radius while the cross-sectional area varies with the square, it will be evident that alarge ball will readily fall by gravity in the ascending uid stream, while a relatively small ball may not descend with suflciently rapidity without some additional impetus or force exertion from above. Additional impetus or force from above may be secured in various ways for instance by being thrown from above, as by being s truck by the descending cage, or by use of a valve biasing spring, as mentioned hereinabove. The size and weight of the ball, and the biasing forces acting thereon, are therefore adjusted in any given practical application to secure the valve action here described, and this adjustment is well within the ability of those skilled in thel art in the light of the present teaching;

There are some cases where it is desirable to use a reverse biasing spring, that is to say, a spring biasing the valve in a direction to hold the valve operiz Figure 3 shows such a valve, where the valve ball 25a is urged upwardly, or away from its seat 23a, by reverse biasing spring 34a supported at the lower end of spider 34h. Such a device is useful in many cases, for example in oil well pumping where substantial gas production is encountered. The reverse biasing spring gives good assurance that the valve ball 25a will continue to oscillate relative to the sonically driven seat 23a even when the ramming forces which normally tend to aid in unseating the valve ball are substantially reduced by the presence of gas.

Figure 4 show s a further modified form of valve, capable of use in my pumping system of Figure 1, wherein the valve is of a slide type. The valve seat ring 23 may be substantially the same as in the embodiment of Figure 1, but the valve, designated at 25e, is of a slide valve type, having cylindrical wall 25d slidable within ring 23, and having a head 25e at the top overhanging the upper side of ring 23, and an open ring 25j at the bottom forming an upwardly facing stop shoulder for engagement against the underside of ring 23. The well uid passes upwardly into the cylindrical body 25d, and is discharged through lateral ports 25g when the valve is lifted relative to ring 23. In the lowermost (dotted line) position of the valve, the ports 25g are obviously closed. In operation, the slide valve of Figure 4 performs in substantially the same manner as the ball type valve earlier described.

Figure 5 shows an alternative sonic pumping system in which the sound waves are transmitted to the valve by way of a central rod string inside the pump tubing rather than through the pump tubing itself. Here the pump tubing is designated at 40, suspended within casing 41 by 6 being screwed into tubing head 42, to which is secured casing head 43 carrying casing 41. Mounted on head 42 is the base 46 of spring supporting means 47 for the sucker rod string 49 that extends downwardly through pump tubing 40. The sucker rod string will be understood to be of elastic material, ordinarily steel sucker rods of great elastic fatigue properties. ,The upper end of string 49 is secured to suspension rod 50 which projects up through base plate 46 and top plate 51 of saidspring supporting means 47, to carry at its top vibration generator G' exactly like that previously described in connection with Figure l, and needing no further description. A stulling box is indicated at 53, surrounding rod 51 where it passes through plate 46, and an oil cup 54 surrounding rod 51 rests on stuing box 53 and supplies it with lubrication. Rod 49 has near its upper end an enlarged head 52 shouldering downwardly against plate 51. Between members 46 and 51 are a plurality of coil springs 55, which are positioned on vertical guide pins 56 set tightly into base plate 46 and projecting with working clearance through top plate 51. The weight of the sucker rod string is thus transferred from rod 50 to top member 51`of spring supporting means 47, and thus to the springs 55 which are in turn supported through base member 46 from tubing head 42.

The lower end of rod string 20 is screwed into a pump plunger body 60, to which is tted a flexible diaphragm 61 peripherally clamped by the surrounding pump tubing. Within valve body is a valve chamber containing valve ball 62 adapted to seat at the upper end of bore 63 through valve seat member 64. Leading upwardly and outwardly from the ball valve'chamber are iluid passageways 65, as shown.

Operation of the pumping system of Figure 5 is similar to that described in connection with Figure l, the only essential difference being that the pump tubing remains stationary while the pump plunger body is oscillated by sound wave action transmitted through the sucker rod string 49. It is to be understood that the same elastic deformation waves of tension and compression described in connection with Figure l as being transmitted down the pump tubing, are here transmitted down the sucker rod string 49, with the result that the plunger body 60 will be vertically oscillated by sonic wave action. Insofar as the pumping action through the plunger is concerned, and particularly insofar as the actuation of the valve ball 62 is' conc erned, the description already given in connection with Figure l applies here in precisely the same way.

Reference is now directed to Figure 6, showing an application of my invention in the field of fluid injection to internal combustion engines. that by vibrating a fuel injection valve at relatively high frequencies (as for example 40,000 cycles per second), combustion control is very materially aided.

In the form of the invention shown in Figure 6, the sonic valve operating mechanism comprises a magnetostrictive device 70 comprising a central elastic valve rod 71 and a tubular magneto-strictive bar or sleeve 72 surv rounding and annularly spaced from rod 71, these members 71 and 72 being iixedly joined to one another at one end, as indicated at 73. The rod 71 and sleeve 72 are of approximately the same length, and the rod 71 carries at its free end valve element 74 adapted to seat on annular valve seat 75 controlling injection nozzle 76 in screw threaded fitting 77. In a typical case, the members 71 and 72 are typically 2.5 in length, though this figure is given without intention of limiting the invention. A magnetic field coil 78 surrounds the members 71 and 72, and this coil may be embedded in a phenolic molded body 79. The body 79 may incorporate powdered iron particles around the coil 78 to give a llux path outside of the coil.

The phenolic body 79 is mounted between the fitting 77 and an opposite end fitting80, the latter being in the nature of a ring having an internally threaded portion 81 adapted to receive the externally threaded coupling part 82 of fitting 83, and it will be understood that the fuel supply line will be coupled to the latter. Fitting 83 has axial bore 84 opening to an enlarged chamber 85 in which is contained biasing spring 86 acting through inverted cup 87 against the uncture of the members 71 and 72, and it will be seen tha this spring 86 exerts a light biasing force tending to press the valve element 74 against its seat.75. Also,`as shown in the drawings, an annular fuel channel 89 is formed around the magneto-strictive device, com- I have found, for example,

2 pleting a fuel conduit from the bore 04 in tting 83 down to the valve controlled seat 75 and discharge nozzle 76.

The leads to coil 78 may be brought out in any desired' manner, but are here shown as leading to electrical socket 90, into which may be screwed a conventionalelectric connector plug, not shown. l

The coil 78 is energized by a suitable oscillator having a resonant frequency matched to the resonant frequency of the magneto-strictive device. Magneto-strict'ive materials (e. g., nickel alloys), when submerged in liquids having an acoustic impedance range including that of hydrocarbon fuel, have a speed of sound approximately 16,000 feet per second. The speed of sound divided by wave length gives frequency, and the lowest natural resonant frequency in the illustrative embodiment (with members 71 and 72 2%" in length) is in the range of 20,000 cycles per second. The driving oscillator will accordingly be chosen to have a corresponding resonant frequency.

A suitable fuel pump, not shown, will be incorporated in the fuel supply line, but this fuel pump does not meter or time the injection and merely maintains pressure at suicient volume.

Operation is as follows: The periodic magnetic field produced by the coil 78 energized by the described oscillator will, on each pulse, generate a momentary shortening stress in the magneto-strictive member 72. The member 72 accordingly contracts slightly thereby causing counter balancing forces to be developed in the other tuned lmember or leg 7l to elongate, the junction point remaining stationary. Between shortening stresses, the magneto-strictive member 72 of course elongates, while the member 7l contracts. The two legs 7ll and 72 of the device thus alternately lengthen and contract, one leg always lengthening while the other is shortening. Thus, while the junction point of the two legs remains stationary, the two ends remote from the junction point move in opposite phase at the frequency of the oscillator. Opening and closing movements of the valve accordingly occur at this frequency, typically in the range of 20,000 cycles per second.

With the fuel injection system of Figure 5, throttling (amount of fuel injected) may be controlled by voltage control on the oscillator, which varies the amplitude of valve movement, or by the number of valve movement cycles for each injection period, and also by variation of the fuel hydraulic static pressure. The small stroke high frequency movement of the valve atomizes the fuel and gives very accurate control for metering small fuel quantities. The small magneto-strictive bar and the valve rod do not move bodily (except to find an equilibrium location for the period of actuation) but simply shorten and lengthen in the manner of a quarter wave length bar.

Sonic actuation of the injector valve as'thus described, and by which expression is to be understood the operation of a valve element in response to vibratory movements, produced by transmission of waves of compression and tension in an elastic member, olers advantages in combustion control not heretofore approached to my knowledge.

It will be evident that the high frequency movement of valve 74 will result in a great many opening and closing cycles during the injection interval even though the injection interval (time during which the electronic oscillation is energizing coil 78) is of the order of only a few crank angle degrees at the top of the engine compression stroke. This means that during the combustion phase of the engines operating cycle the fuel is introduced as a series of small increments, Diesel type combustion of unusually smooth characteristics can thus be accomplished because there is no fuel accumulation.

The invention has now been described by way of several illustrative examples in different fields of application. It will be understood, however, that the broad invention is not necessarily restricted to the specific illustrative examples, or to the two selected fields of application, but is conceived of as broad and genericl in nature. At the same time, the invention is to be recognized in the detailed illustrative embodiments. The appended claims accordingly cover the invention both broadly and specifically.

I claim:

l. Apparatus for cyclic actuation of a valve including valve closure and valve seat elements movable relative to one another between open and closed positions, that comprises: a metallic elastic columny structure capable of elastic elongation and'contraction in response to elastic waves of tension and compression developed therein, means for generating elastic waves of tension and cornpression in said column, havinga quarter-wave length in the column no longer than. substantially the length of the column and an operative mechanical driving connection between an elastically movable portion of said column and at least one of said valve elements for moving said element relative to the other of said valve elements, said valve elements being mounted for such relative movement that the major component of said relative move` ment lis parallel to the direction of said elastic elongation and contraction.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the elastic column is connected to said valve seat element so as to move the same relative to the valve closure element.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, including also biasing means yieldingly urging the valve closure element toward the valve seat element.

4. Apparatus for cyclic actuation of a valve including valve closure and valve seat elements movable relative to one another between open and closed positions, that comprises: a metallic elastic column structure, means for periodically elastically deforming said column structure in a longitudinal direction, at a frequency high enough to produce in the column elastic deformation waves whose quarter-wave length is of an order no longer than substantially the length ofthe column and an operative mechanical driving connection between a periodically elastically deformed portion of said column structure and at least one of said valve elements for periodically moving said element through valve opening and closing movements relative to the other of said elements, said valve elements being mounted for such relative movement that the major component of such relative movement is parallel to the direction of said elastic deformation.

5. A valve and actuating means therefor comprising valve closure and valve seat elements, a metallic elastic column structure capable of elastic elongation and contraction in response to elastic waves of tension and compression developed therein, means for generating elastic waves of tension and compression in said column, having a quarter-wave length in the column no longer than substantially the length of the column, and an operative mechanical driving connection between an elastically movable portion of said column and said valve seat element for moving said valve seat element relative to said valve closure element, said valve elements being mounted for such relative movement that the major component of said relative movement is parallel to the direction of said elastic elongation and contraction.

The subject matter of claim 5, wherein said valve seat element comprises a uid displacing ring and said valve closure element comprises a valve ball operatively associated with said ring.

7. 'I'he subject matter of claim 5, including a spring means biasing said valve closure element toward said valve seat element.

8. The subject matter of claim 5, wherein the valve seat element is formed with a bore and the valve closure element comprises a slide valve slidingly fitted in said bore, said slide valve having a longitudinal fluid passage opening through the intake end of the valve and having a port opening laterally through the side wall of the valve near the discharge end of the valve, said valve having a. closure at its discharge end and being shouldered near opposite ends to limit its stroke, said iluid passage port being located inside said bore at one stroke limit of the valve, and being located outside said bore at the other stroke limit of the valve.

9. Apparatus for cyclic actuation of a valve including valve closure and valve seat elements movable relative to one another, that comprises: a metallic elastic column structure capable of elastic elongation and contraction in response to elastic waves of tension and compression in said column having a quarter wavelength in the column no longer than substantially the length of the column, means rigidly mounting said valve seat element on an elastically movable portion of said column for moving said seat element relative to said closure element, and

4a valve cage element connected to said valve seat elel tive to said seat that the major compone ,voaue element to cause the valve cage element to strike against the valve closure element on each stroke of the valve seat element away from the valve closure element, said closure element being mounted for such movement relant of said relative movement is parallel to the direction of'elongation and contraction of said elastic column.

l0. The subject matter pf claim 9. including also biasmg means yieldingly ur the valve closure element away from the valve seat ement.

UNTTED STATES PATENTS Bodine May 22, 1951 

